Women Movement: Suffrage Movement and Birth Control Activism

Running head: WOMEN MOVEMENT
WOMEN MOVEMENT
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1WOMEN MOVEMENT
Answer to question 2.
The suffrage movement of the women was a century long fight for winning the right
to vote and equality as men in the United States and Europe. It took almost a century to
achieves this right because this campaign was not easy to win. Differences over the strategies
threated to curb this movement several times. In 26th August, 1920, the 19th amendment of the
US constitution finally ratified that enfranchised all the American women as well as declared
that like all the freemen of America, the women deserve all the rights and all responsibilities
of citizenship. This movement enabled the women to struggle for suffrage. In 1888, the first
international women’s rights organization was designed by the women in several countries
for example, Britain, France, Germany and the United States (Guy-Sheftall, 1995). The
International Council of Women was set up but this particular organization was reluctant to
focus on the suffrage movement, the strugglers founded another organization named
International Women Suffrage Alliance. This coalition was however formed by the British
Women rights activist Millicent Fawcett and an American activist Carrie Chapman Catt along
with other important women rights activists.
The suffrage movement in US had gained eminence with first women’s rights
resolution in the world which is known as the Seneca Falls Convention in the year 1848. This
particular convention was organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott who are
the active members of the abolitionist movement. They came across one another in the World
Anti-Slavery convention organized in England in 1840. In 1851, Stanton was introduced by
Susan Anthony, one of the most active in temperance movement at that time. These women
formed the Women’ National Loyal League in in 1863 for supporting 13h amendment for
abolishing slavery as well as for full citizenship for the black women. In the years 1869, with
the abolition of slavery, National Women Suffrage Association was established (Anderson,
2001). Julia Ward Howe, Lucy Stone and Josephine Ruffin joined the movement for other

2WOMEN MOVEMENT
rights for Women, such as the changes in the divorce laws as well as end to the employment
and pay discrimination. Josephine Ruffin stated, “we need to feel the cheer and inspiration of
meeting each other, we need to gain courage as fresh life that comes from the mingling of
congenial souls, of those working for the same ends”.
Despite the fact that NAWSA was the parent for all the local campaigns to guide but
separated the more radical activists namely Olympia Brown. These women activists were
protesting for wider rights with the right to vote. In 1914, the activists like Lucy Burns and
Alice Paul felt dissatisfied with the direction of NAWSA as the members idealized that
exclusion of the Afro-American women would gain bigger support. This is why, NAWSA
had focused on the enfranchisement exclusively for white women. Therefore, the African-
American feminist like Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth started their own course to
oppose this "Anti-Black" women's suffrage movement. Initially they were not helped by
these women’s organization. However, in August 26, 1920, the 19th constitutional
amendment was ratified and more than 8 million womenfolk across the USA voted in the
election for the first time.
Answer to question 3.
Margaret Higgins Sanger along with Leta Hollingworth were the American Birth
control activists. Sanger was a Eugenius who opened first birth control private clinic in the
USA. In addition to this she founded organizations which later changed into the Planned
Parenthood Federation of America. She with her coworker Leta Hollingsworth, who was also
a feminist psychiatrist, promoted birth control to be the best way to gain freedom by women.
Sanger through her writings as well as speeches, promoted her way of thinking. Due to her
progressive thinking, she was prosecuted under the Comstock Act in 1914. According to
these activists, the women needs to have complete control over their body otherwise the